Sarah Palin: nukes are best Putin containment strategy

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin makes remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, March 8, 2014. CPAC closes after 3 days where thousands of conservative activists, Republicans and Tea Party Patriots gathered to hear politicians, presidential hopefuls, and business leaders speak, lobby and network for a conservative agenda, looking to Congressional gains in 2014 and a Republican president in 2016. (REUTERS)

By

AFP

PublishedSunday, March 09, 2014

Sarah Palin offered unsolicited advice Saturday to President Barack Obama on containing Russian aggression, saying "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke."

The Republican former vice presidential candidate used a predominantly crass tone throughout her appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

But she hit home by attacking what she called a feckless Obama foreign policy that she said has helped embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Failing to show peace through strength has allowed some "very, very, very bad dudes (to) gain ground," said Palin, who remains a darling of the far-right.

"Mr. President, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke."

The comments follow Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine last month, action which sent tensions soaring and US-Russia relations to perhaps their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

The remark may have sounded flippant, but it was red meat to conservatives mindful of similar language used by the head of the National Rifle Association, America's largest gun lobby.

In the aftermath of a December 2012 mass shooting in Connecticut, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre poured fuel on the gun control debate by saying that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."